One driver with gray at his temples and a giggle on his lips recalled when he used to daydream of shrinking down and driving his own slot cars. Another became a comic-book rocket guy, racing to save the underground city. Driving the Tesla is so unlike wheeling a normal vehicle—indeed, even the severely abnormal Lotus Elise on which the Tesla is based—that it’s possible to be transported in mind much farther than in body. Well, anything that extends a Tesla’s range, metaphysical or otherwise, is welcome.

Recall that the Tesla, named for 19th- and early-20th-century electrical über-inventor Nikola Tesla, is a two-seat targa assembled by Lotus in England and finished by Tesla Motors in San Carlos, California. The aluminum-chassis and carbon-fiber-paneled roadster weighs 2756 pounds, 781 more than an Elise, but is made spunky by a 248-hp, air-cooled AC-induction electric motor fed by 6831 lithium-ion cells resembling slightly overweight AA penlight batteries. No gas, no oil, just juice from the wall socket—amounting to about $4 to $7 worth for a single fill-up, depending on your local electricity rates.

After helping invent the online-payment service PayPal, and then selling it for $1.5 billion in eBay stock, Elon Musk, 37, founded Tesla Motors.

The first drivable prototype created in mid-2007 was almost as big as the Beatles in the media. Deposits poured in. As of January, the company claims to have put 168 cars on the road through a pair of reassuringly modern and well-equipped dealerships in California.

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An informative touch screen even reports gasoline savings.

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Lately, however, it looks as if Lady Luck has been hopscotching in golf cleats on the company. Tesla underwent a bitter management change in late 2007, and it has run into a fund-raising wall since the credit industry and economy went kablammo. The company also jacked up the roadster’s base price to $110,950 in January (originally it was $92,950, then $99,950). Customers who had already plunked down deposits but were still awaiting delivery were told to agree to the higher price or their cars wouldn’t be built. The internet boiled.

Especially itchy, according to owner blogs, is how Tesla now charges for items that were once standard equipment. Among them, the 240-volt “high-power connector” quick charger allowing three- to four-hour recharges is now an extra $3000 (the charging time with the 120-volt plug that is included in the price takes about 37 hours, while a $1500 lower-amp, 240-volt plug involves eight to 10 hours). The forged aluminum wheels in these pictures, once standard, now cost $2300. The company says it needs to charge more to stay viable.

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The glossy carbon-fiber center console looks deluxe, but we’re told a new, fancierdash is in the works.________________________________________________________________

Regardless of where your mind is transported, your body will move only about 240 miles, at most, between charges, says Tesla. Unfortunately, we can’t verify the claim. We traveled only about 160 miles before total failure. Not of the battery pack but of our lower backs. As in an Elise, the Tesla’s seats seem to consist of little more than black paint on the fire wall. Now that waterboarding is banned, may we suggest simply locking terrorists inside a Tesla.

Still, we find no reason to dispute Tesla’s range claim. The touch screen reports miles remaining on the battery pack, but it’s a prediction based on previous behavior. The harder one pushes, the lower the number of miles remaining. Ease up, as we rarely did, and your range circle widens. Holding a steady 75 on the freeway drains the pack fast, as it sucks amps and there are fewer opportunities for brake regeneration. Conversely, pummeling the car on a winding road winds down the clock less quickly.